In early November, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California green-lit testing for autonomous vehicles, also known as driverless cars.
This revises the previous draft rules set forth by the DMV, which required companies such as Uber to acquire permits for each county and city in order to test such technology. However, following Uber’s refusal to apply for a permit and relocation of testing to Arizona, the DMV changed the rules after criticism and worry that California would fall behind other states in innovation. This concern stemmed from the fact that numerous other states such as Michigan, Florida, and Arizona allow driverless cars on roads with few regulations.
With this change, 43 companies in California, including Apple, Uber, and General Motors, will be able to apply for fully driverless permits to test autonomous cars on the road, after the DMV finalizes their rules.
However, despite the DMV green-lit testing, there are other obstacles that autonomous vehicles have to overcome before they can go commercial. The state decision will have to work in tandem with the federal and local government. For instance, not too long ago, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the federal government total control over driverless cars, including states being forced to allow testing. Nevertheless, driverless cars are about to become a reality in the near future.
Information for this article was taken from the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
